Southern Co-operative makes £25,000 donation for play park

Shakila Barabhuiya

Pupils from Hayling College, the mayor of Havant and local police officers were among those who came out in force to celebrate a £25,000 donation from The Southern Co-operative towards the rejuvenation of Mengham Park.

The money was raised for Play Parks for Hayling as part of a community support scheme by The Southern Co-operative store on Elm Grove, Hayling Island.

The money contributed to the £80,000 raised by Play Parks for Hayling to renovate the island’s Mengham Park.

Pete Raynor, the retail business manager for The Southern Co-operative’s Hayling Island store said: ‘Our colleagues and customers have been passionate about helping to raise this money for Mengham Park.

‘It is absolutely fantastic to see all the hard work pay off and for the children in our community to benefit from the new and improved play park.’

Mengham Park now features a wheelchair accessible roundabout, a bucket swing, multiple climbing frames and more.

The park was officially reopened by Havant mayor Leah Turner in August 2015 after 18 months of fundraising in the area.

The donation follows The Southern Co-operative store’s launch of a new community engagement programme, Love Your Neighbourhood, an innovative community pilot aimed at bringing together the Hayling Island community to help make a positive difference to the local area.

Mr Raynor said: ‘We would love as many Hayling Island community groups, charities, and not-for-profit organisations as possible to come and visit us in the store and find out how we can help get involved and Love Your Neighbourhood.

‘We are passionate about getting more involved with our Hayling Island community and can’t wait to start making a difference.’